Collapse At Roissy

A café terrace nearly too
bright.

Moore Film Takes Cannes' Top Award

Paris:– Monday, 24. May 2004:– Early
Sunday morning a 30–metre section of the new Terminal
2–E collapsed at Charles–de–Gaulle
airport, killing four people and injuring three others.
They were apparently all airline passengers.

Witnesses saw dust falling from the structure's ceiling,
heard crunching, saw cracks appear and alerted airport
authorities, who evacuated about 80 personnel and
passengers from the danger area. Immediately afterwards the
multi–ton overhead terminal section's roof gave way,
and the whole elevated passenger 'jetty' crashed to the
level of the runway.

The 'plan rouge' sent 250 rescue specialists into action
and rescue workers quickly arrived on the scene to search
the wreckage for victims and survivors. Search dogs
indicated that there were few, if any, remaining trapped in
the in the twisted wreck of the steel, concrete and glass
tube. An emergency hospital was set up on the spot.

The accident occurred about 7:00 in the morning when
there was little traffic other than three Air France
flights, from Newark and Johannesburg which were
disembarking, and a flight to Prague was embarking. There
were other passengers in the area waiting for other
flights.

About 60 scheduled flights were shifted to other
terminals at the same airport, with delays but no
cancellations. The new 2–E terminal
was opened last June, in a somewhat unfinished state, as I
noted in July when I passed through it on the way to New
York City. On Monday airport officials decided to close the
whole 2–E terminal because more cracks were
appearing.

Before the wind came and blew the warmth
away.

Both the Minister of Transport, Gilles de Robien, and
the Minister of the Interior, Dominique de Villepin, were
at the accident scene on Sunday. The director of
Aéroports de Paris, Hubert du Mesnil, guessed that
the sole cause of the accident was the collapse of the
structure, rather than any sort of attack.

Officials do not have any idea why the new terminal is
falling apart. On Sunday the building was not under any of
the relatively minor stresses that it should have been
built to withstand. In light of the new cracks showing up
today, there is talk of tearing the whole thing down and
rebuilding it.

Aéroports de Paris was reported to have spent
about 750 million euros on the building that is the
principle Air France international terminal. It is also
used by Air France partners AeroMexico, Alitalia, CSA,
Delta, and Korean Airlines.

Until now about six million passengers have passed
through the new terminal, which was designed to handle up
to ten million by the end of this year. It was to be a key
element making Charles–de–Gaulle airport into a
primary airline hub with more traffic than London or
Frankfurt. The 2–E terminal was designed to handle 17
passenger jets, including the coming jumbo Airbus, the
A380.

Aéroports de Paris announced late on Monday that
it was abandoning Terminal 2–E and its operations
were to be carried out at other Roissy
terminals.

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Wins Palme d'Or

On Saturday night France–2 TV–news announced
that Michael Moore's film, in competition at the 57th
Cannes Film Festival, had been awarded with the top prize,
the 'Palme d'Or.'

Near the end of the news broadcast the film director was
also interviewed on a live feed from Cannes. He said he was
'completely overwhelmed,' adding, "It's
an enormous surprise." According to Reuters, the triumph of
the film was no great surprise after the standing ovation
it received after its official screening in competition
last Monday at the Grand Théâtre
Lumière.

But it was the first time since Jacques Cousteau's 'Le
Monde de Silence' won in 1956 that a documentary has been
honored. However, winning at Cannes was not a first for Mr.
Moore, who won an award for 'Bowling for Columbine' two
years ago.

In the Place Dauphine.

During the press conference following the awards, Mr.
Moore was quoted as saying that he expected the
right–wing press in the United States would claim
that the Palme d'Or was a strictly French prize. But he
also noted that four of the jurors were American –
Kathleen Turner, Jerry Schatzberg, and Edwidge Danticat.
The festival's president was Quentin Tarantino.

During the TV–news interview, Mr. Moore said he
was positive that the film woud be shown in cinemas in the
United States, with emphasis on 'this summer.' He said,
"Americans have a right to see it." The film is slated for
a run in French cinemas beginning 7. July.